Sonnet

A poetic form of 14 lines which was very popular in the Renaissance. Invented at the Sicilian court (c.1250) and developed by Francesco Petrarca, it came to England in the 16th century thanks to the translations by Wyatt and others. While the Italian form contains 2 quartets and 3 tercets, the English (or "Shakespearean") sonnet has 3 quartets and a couplet. Sonnets can and have been written about almost everything (John Donne wrote sonnets on death and dying; John Milton on a massacre in Piedmont; William Wordsworth on London, Milton and the sonnet), in the Renaissance, however, more often than not, sonnets deal with the emotionally fraught relationship between the lyrical I and a distant, but admirable lady.